US Embassy in Serbia: Biden’s Summit for Democracy could not include all partners

US President Joseph Biden’s Summit for Democracy initiative could not include all of Washington’s partners, while the objective was to gather a regional and social-economically diverse group of countries and judicial instances, Beta news agency was told by the US Embassy in Belgrade.

Asked by Beta whether it was true that Serbia was not invited and why, a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Belgrade said that “the objective was to gather both countries with already strongly developed democracy and budding democracies, that are diverse in terms of population, ethnic composition and geographic location.”

It was earlier reported that Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina were not on the invite list while the other Western Balkans states – Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia – were invited.

“The US remains committed to working with Serbia toward advancing and strengthening democracy through other forums, as well as preventing democracy from regressing, promoting respect for human rights and curbing corruption so that we together can prove that democratic countries meet the needs of their peoples,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also rejected accusations by top Serbian officials against a group of US congressmen who called for sanctions over corruption and problems with media freedom.

“From academic exchanges to security cooperation and the fight against COVID-19, the relationship of the United States with Serbia is excellent and growing stronger by the day. Recent allegations against our elected members of Congress are absurd, insulting, and incorrect,” the spokesperson told Beta.

On 5 November, a group of Congressmen called on US President Joseph Biden to consider sanctions against individuals destabilising the Western Balkans, saying that they were concerned about the effect of the political situation in Serbia on the region and Europe. They also called on the administration to continue its engagement and talks with the Serbian government to root out corruption in Serbia and stop attacks on the media.

(EURACTIV.rs | betabriefing.com)